FIVE “NEW” FRANCES 26s

Here’s the DANSKA, now FULL CIRCLE’s arrangement with commentary by Chuck.

Let me walk you through it.  I hate conventional sail lockers. I am claustrophobic, so if I ever have to work on the stuffing box, after trying to get a too big sailbag or ten to give birth through a too small opening, against the force of gravity, once I get down in there trying to sit on a sloping inside of a hull, I have visions of the lid falling shut and the little haspy locky thing engaging and I can’t get out. It actually happened to a friend of mine, on a day when nobody was around the boatyard so screaming wasn’t going to be heard. He survived but it is a story I will never forget. So on the port side it is completely open to the interior, there is a flat floor clad with teak and holly vinyl, and you can sit there comfortably after SLIDING the sailbags and the heavy spare anchor out- no lifting! The opening into the aft end of the engine and stuffing box will be huge, so maintenance will actually get done and if the boat is taking on water and the most likely culprit is the stuffing box you can get to it STAT. On the starboard side there is a shorter flat floor, which will accommodate one of those wonderful Coleman cooler thingies that are much more efficient at holding cold than your common yacht icebox, and if you want to you can buy the 12 volt electrical one and actually make ice! On the port side is the enclosed head. Only it’s not always enclosed. Its walls come up to about waist height. So standing up in the boat you have a view all the way aft into the aforementioned “sail locker room”, and more importantly out the big cabin window on that side and the little opening port into the cockpit. I’m all about sightlines, and this will make this boat seem half again larger than it is. There will be lightweight slide-up or maybe fanfold panels that can make the head fully enclosed if someone is squeamish, or wants to take a shower. Much of the “floor” is the inside of the hull thus not flat, so it plus the small truly flat part inboard will be clad with a nice bathroom flooring vinyl, so it all looks and feels like floor. The toilet has enough foot space aft of it that even Bob Perry with his long legs can fit. The galley is to starboard, and is smallish, yes, this is true. I already mentioned the aft part- just like the opposite side there is a flat floor, clad with teak and holly vinyl. Much of the time this will have the amazing Coleman cooler sitting on it. But if this is removed, and the companionway stairs and entirely removable engine box removed, one can sit there, on a flat floor, and do maintenance on either side of the entirely exposed engine. Outboard of this is a lot of storage. The galley is self-evident, except that the after gimbal of the gimballed stove is on a post not a bulkhead so as to make access into the after space that much easier. The galley sink is undermounted so an infill can be put there to create some much needed counter space. Forward of this are the two settee/berths which are proportioned to make good sea berths. Forward of this at the same level the cushions merge into the veeberth. One can simply slide one”s butt along to get into and out of the veeberth – no change in level. An infill turns the forward area into a full length  double berth.     

So what can I say in general about this interior? It would be luxurious for a singlehander, and he/she could “entertain” someone in the forward berth should the occasion arise. It would be luxurious for a couple, and they could sleep in separate seaberths at sea, and together forward when level. It could accommodate my son and his wife and their two daughters as long as the kids are not old enough to demand privacy. Indeed this is the mission I have designed the boat for- I am going to give it to them when I am finished restoring her. It is ideal for someone like me who is claustrophobic, with its wide open access to the electric motor and drive train aft, and sightlines from one end to the other. I have of course what must be seven or eight other interiors for the Frances, most of them from the days when I thought of it as a “camp-cruiser”… Toilet under a settee cushion- that sort of thing. This one is much more long-cruise friendly.fast by today’s standards, but they were so cute and stylish that owners have enjoyed every minute of their use for decades. With over 40 years to think about many attractive upgrades, these three reconstructed yachts will approach perfection! If you were to build an entirely new FRANCES today, since the Morris and Victoria molds have been destroyed, such a vessel would cost over half a million dollars to build. But with luck you can find one on the brokerage market that is old and tired and therefore affordable, put admittedly a lot of time and money into it, and have an essentially new and lovely vessel in which to range the oceans of this world for another half century. HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS of the restoration projects. These will be added to as the owners make progress.